Craft cocktails from the best bars in Copenhagen

XO

From Cognac with love!

At Kester Thomas it’s all about the grape, so Cognac is of course an important ingredient in many of our cocktails.

After competing a few times in the Sidecar Cocktail Competition by Merlet Brothers Blend Cognac, I have had the pleasure to create several twists on the cognac based sidecar cocktail.

The Sidecar is a classic cocktail created at the end of World War I – mixing Cognac, Triple Sec and lemon. Its origin is unclear but it was apparently invented in either Paris or London, in reference to the motorcycle attachment used during the war.

Currently we have one of my interpretations of the classic Sidecar on our menu mixing Cognac and Bergamot liqueur to bring floral notes and enhance the lemon juice with bergamot citrusy notes.

The name XO is inspired by “The Weeknd”, a talented singer from Toronto in Canada who become famous a few years ago by making music with his compatriot and well-known friend “Drake”.

Maple syrup is used as sweetener to refer to Canada and the cocktail is topped with Champagne to refer to success and his love for celebration.

Shake all the ingredients with ice except the champange. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with champagne. Garnish with an XO music label logo.

The candied fruit flavour of the cognac blends perfectly with the earthy and woody maple syrup. The floral and citrusy bergamot enhances the acidity of the Champagne – and accompanied by lemon juice this results in a well balanced sour cocktail.

The XO cocktail is perfect for introducing your wife or girlfriend to cognac if she is not already in love with it!

AND… the XO recently won 1st place in the L’atelier Merlet cocktail competition 2018 in Copenhagen. Come and try it out at Kester Thomas!

After 12 years experience in the service industry as a bartender/bar manager in restaurants, cocktail bars, and clubs, I recently finished my Bachelor degree in Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Today I'm the Managing Partner of a Wine and Champagne cocktail bar in the heart of Copenhagen.